Introduction to Literary Chinese - Lesson 25, Text 1
Adapted from the 1927 book by J. Brandt
聊齋誌異 趙城虎
Strange Stories from the Liao Studio - The Tiger of Chao-Ch'eng
趙城嫗。年七十餘。止一子。一日入山。爲虎所噬。
There lived at Chao-ch'eng an old woman more than seventy years of age. She had an only son. One day he went up into the mountains and was devoured by a tiger.
嫗悲痛。幾不欲活。號啼而訴於宰。宰笑曰。虎何可以官法制之乎。
The sorrow of his mother was so great that she almost wished to die (lit. did not wish to live). Weeping and wailing she (went) to the local district magistrate and brought an accusation (against the tiger). The magistrate laughed and said, “How could a tiger be controlled by the law!”
嫗愈號跳不能制止。率叱之。亦不畏懼。又憐其老。不忍加威怒。遂諾爲捉虎。
But the old woman went on weeping and it was impossible to stop (her lamentations). The magistrate hooted at her, but she did not pay any attention (lit. was not afraid). Then the magistrate in compassion for her great age did not wish to intimidate her and promised her to have the tiger arrested.
嫗伏不去。必待句牒出。乃肯行。率無奈之。即問諸役。誰能往者。一隸名李能。醺醉。詣坐下。自言能之。持牒下。嫗始去。
(However) the old woman still lay prostrate on the ground and would not go until the warrant had been issued. The magistrate, having no other choice, asked his attendants which of them would take up the job (lit. to go). One of them, named Li-Neng, who happened to be drunk, stepped up to his seat and declared that he could do it. Whereupon the warrant was issued, and then the old woman went away.
隷醒而悔之。猶謂宰之偽局。姑以解嫗擾耳。因亦不甚爲意。持牒報繳。
When Li-Neng got sober he was sorry for what had happened. But reflecting that it was a mere trick the magistrate had played on the old woman in order to get rid of her, he did not care much about it and handed back the warrant to the magistrate.
率怒曰。固言能之。何容復侮。隷窘甚。請牒拘獵戶。宰從之。款集諸獵人。日夜伏山谷。冀得一虎。庶可塞責。
The latter cried angrily, “You said you could do this, and now I will not allow you to return the warrant.” Li-Neng very much annoyed asked him for a warrant ordering to impress the (local) huntsmen. The magistrate granted it to him, and Li-Neng, having collected the huntsmen, lay in ambush day and night in the hills hoping to catch a tiger and thus to make an appearance of having performed his duty.